No actually it doesn't. It gives you the last known fix. Trust me, I tried to make it work for 2 weeks in Europe.

There are plenty of reasons to have GPS work whether you have network access or not. There are a lot of things you can do with just getting accurate coordinates. Spaz, for example, lets you insert your coordinates (Which won't work properly if all you have is a WiFi hotspot).

Keep airplane mode ON, drive a couple miles, and do ##GPS# again - it will be the same coordinates.

Ahh. Well then, your experience is much better than mine! That's a semi-shame then. Only current gripe about this phone then